Does the hospital bed Barrier adversely affect pressure injury outcomes?

No. All data collected to date does not indicate any adverse effects. This includes two peer-reviewed studies in which the barrier was used in two LTACHs and one acute care hospital for a total of 98,732 patient-days.^20,21 The barriers were used on Hillrom VCP 500, TotalCare Sport, Accumax, and Envision mattresses. These studies showed there was no increase in skin injuries as a result of using the barrier.

References

20. Hooker EA, Bochan M, Reiff TT, Blackwell C, Webb KW, Hart KW. Decreasing Clostridium difficile health care–associated infections through use of a launderable mattress cover. Am J Infect Control. 2015;43(12):1326–1330. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2015.07.002

21. Hooker EA, Mallow PJ, McKinney C, Gnoni ML, Fernandez Gonzales F. Use of a launderable bed barrier and antibiotic stewardship to decrease hospital onset Clostridioides difficile infections in an acute care hospital: A retrospective pre/post case study. JHEOR. 2019;6(3):196-202. doi:10.36469/001c.11149